Years ago I used to play and record in a metal band, and I went out of my way to find the guy who I thought was the best engineer/producer for this type of music in the area. He was great to work with, and made my stuff sound really good (to me, anyway). When we were on a break in the studio, I saw that he also had been recently working on another album called Polka from the Fringe. So I made fun of him working on a Polka record, since he was really known for punk and metal, and he said: “Hey, don’t knock Polka. Polka’s cool!” And I was like: “Really? Polka?” And he said: “Yeah! Hey, what’s a band you might like that’s… You like Slayer, right?” So I said: “Yes, I like Slayer.” And he said: “So what’s that beat they’re playing all the time? You know, that ‘kick-snare-kick-snare-kick-snare’ beat? Slow that down. What kind of beat is that? It’s a Polka beat, isn’t it?” Well, he had me there, so I had to agree. So he concluded the argument with: “So, really, Slayer is just a fast, Satanic Polka band.” Well, the experience gave me a whole new appreciation of Polka music. Now I wonder what the guys in Slayer would think of that?
BTW, I have found a blog post about this very album, Polka from the Fringe, if anyone is interested. The guy I worked with must have been the recording engineer, as the album is produced by a guy I’ve never heard of. But it was recorded at Baby Monster Studios in NYC, which is where I recorded, so I know it’s the same album. Want to know more?:
